The Mech Touch novel Chapter 42

Hans embarrassingly led Ves away from the private room. "Sorry about that. I thought he’d be more respectful."

"I’ve faced plenty of rejection before. It doesn’t bother me to get turned away again." Although he said this, Ves sighed with disappointment. "I’m in an extremely difficult position if I can’t find a customer for my mech."

They both stayed silent for a moment before Hans thought up another idea. "Why not enlist the services of a broker?"

"I’ve already thought of it." He replied. "But I need a large influx of cash within two weeks. If the broker takes his cut, I’m not sure I’m able to pay the bills that are due very soon."

"Oh relax. I know a woman who might cut a deal with you. Anything’s negotiable. You should really think about it since brokers know their clients best."

Hans had a point. Many small-scale mech designers often relied on specialized brokers and dealers to manage their sales and customer support. These crafty salespeople spent a lot of effort building up a network of customers and other contacts. They trained their bargaining and negotiation skills to a terrifying level.

To be fair, despite the substantial cut they took with each successful sale, they were an indispensable part of the mech industry. That was why Ves allowed Hans to lead him all the way to the center, where a large crowd of well-dressed men exchanged their opinions about their favorite pilots of today’s event.

"Marcella Bollinger! Over here!"

"Oh hey Hans." A pudgy, dark-haired woman greeted the test pilot with a hug. "How’s work?"

"Same old, same old. I’m not here to talk about my work. I’d like you to introduce you to an interesting fellow I met today."

The woman raised her eyebrow and took an appraising look at Ves. "You’re the Larkinson mech designer, aren’t you? My, my, you’re quite the big young man now. How’s fame treating you?"

"Not well since it isn’t of much use in my current situation." Ves shook his head. He found the woman to be more approachable than he thought. "Hans told me that you’re a mech broker. It happens that I have a new mech variant that I’d like to sell."

"Ah, so it’s business this time, eh?" Marcella’s smile turned a little predatory. "On account of Hans, I’ll hear you out. Let’s bring you somewhere quiet first."

As they entered an empty private room, Marcella took a seat at a couch and patted her side. "Take a seat young man. Don’t worry, I don’t bite."

Sitting so close to Marcella discomforted Ves. Marcella’s stocky frame underneath her prim and formal business suit hinted at a military or mercenary background. Though he couldn’t detect the killer vibes from her amiable smile, he was certain that this woman had been through a lot. With his extensive knowledge and experience in mechanics, he sniffed out the presence of prosthetics in her right arm.

"Let’s start from the beginning. What kind of business are you taking part in and why do you need my services?"

Ves gave her the same story he told Colonel Ares. Since he couldn’t hide things from a broker for long, he also mentioned his debt and interest payment situation. While giving out such sensitive information gave her a lot more negotiating power in any agreement they reached, it would prevent misunderstandings from happening in the beginning. Ves was willing to give up a few percentages of profit if it meant building up a solid relationship based on trust. Any broker recommended by Hans shouldn’t be too shady, he hoped.

"Okay, I see." Marcella tapped her manicured finger to her chin. "Lay down the cost structure for me. A mech armored with HRF plating shouldn’t carry an extravagant price."

"If I want to build the Marc Antony from the ground up, I need to use up 18 million credits worth of resources. The raw material cost of the HRF amounts to about 11 million, but I already received a stockpile of resources that’s more than ample enough to armor a single unit. I can scrounge up the rest for about 7 million from the open market."

"That doesn’t sound too bad, but you’ve left out your taxes, licensing costs, depreciation of your machines, and etc. Your real cost should be at least fifty percent higher."

Ves nodded to show his agreement at her remark. "Those costs aren’t relevant to me in the short-term. I don’t pay any further costs for my production licenses, and the taxes and other stuff can be taken care of at the end of the year. Right now I’m desperate for a quick infusion of cash so I can meet my impending interest payment on my massive debt."

"That’s business for you. At least ninety percent of all mech designers who start their own businesses don’t get to make it this far. Production licenses are ridiculously expensive to obtain if you don’t have any backing. It’s kind of impressive that you received two of them as grants. That puts you in the same starting point as designers with a fully original design in their hands. That alone makes it worthwhile for me to invest in you."

Ves looked hopeful at the positive remark. "So you’re willing to work with me?"

"Yup. But don’t get too cocky. I’m only in charge of the sales. I sell dozens of mechs each month so I have no time to hold your hands."

"That’s all I really need. I can take care of myself, don’t worry."

"First, lets talk about accounting. You need to get that in order as soon as you have the time. I saw you got awarded privileged status. Make use of that today and contact your planet’s tax office to get preferable rates applied to your business activities asap. Most tax offices tend to waver a bit and put up a couple of road blocks if you aren’t an actual veteran. Best get that out of the way first before you’re handed a much larger than expected tax at the end of the year."

Ves nodded in understanding. "Cloudy Curtain’s in the middle of nowhere so their taxes are already favorable to businesses. If I apply for preferable rates, my tax burden will probably not improve that much compared to doing business here in Bentheim."

"For a startup like you, every credit counts. You don’t want to have a dispute with the planetary government this early in your career. If they want to, they can make your life hell."

While Ves was skeptical that such a thing would happen in Cloudy Curtain, he nevertheless took the advice seriously.

"Second, while it might be too early to talk about this, but you really should find a better supplier for your raw material needs. The MTA’s internal market is only a bulletin board for resource providers to dump their excess and for mech designers to fill up a gap in their regular shipments of resources. The ready availability of most resources in the market is only made possible by overcharging them by as much as 20%."

"It’s not easy for a startup to get suppliers to take you seriously."

"That’s why I said it’s something to consider later on. The open market should be fine for now, but keep in mind that you’re needlessly throwing away about two million credits for each Marc Antony you produce. That debt problem could be history if you solve your wasteful sourcing."

Marcella moved on as such a thorny problem couldn’t be solved at this moment. "As for your variant’s selling potential, I already have a handful of clients in mind. I’ll warn you that without a track record, your new variant won’t be able to demand much of a premium. Still, I can work some magic here. It helps that you designed your mech with some flair in mind. It looks almost as impressive as the genuine Caesar Augustus."

Marcella’s eyes sharpened as she noticed his wavering expression. "I’ll sweeten the pot for you. If you sign the contract this night, I’ll guarantee you that I’ll find a customer no later than twenty-four standard hours from now. I’ll even hand you an advance of 7 million credits so you can purchase and take back the raw materials you still need to start building your mech."

"What if you can’t find a customer within that time?"

"Then it will take two days." Marcella shrugged nonchalantly. "Trust a lady to know what she’s doing."

"And what if it takes more time? Even if I fabricate the Marc Antony and let the MTA certify it within two weeks, if I don’t have a buyer to take my product away I’ll be in big trouble with the bank. Could you help me out if they come knocking at my door?"

"Sorry Ves, but I already told you that you should take care of your own issues by yourself. I’m only responsible for sales. The advance payment is just a one-time bonus. And frankly, I don’t mind seeing you sweat a bit. How else can I be assured you’ll have a mech ready for me to sell within two weeks?"

Ves suspected Marcella was fond of using monetary incentives to establish her business relationships. _{freewebnøvel.coɱ}

"This is just the start of our partnership. If you don’t trust me to keep my promises and do my job, then it’s better if you look elsewhere."

"You have a point." Ves admitted with a resigned sigh. "

They spent an hour hammering out a basic contract. Ves even used some of his prize money to hire a legal expert on very short notice in order to make sure he wasn’t being bamboozled. Sure, Marcella already screwed him up front. He only wanted to make sure she didn’t screw him from behind at the same time.

After Ves, Marcella and their legal representatives all agreed the contract looked okay, they signed it and sent it off to be notarized. Marcella received the full blueprint of the Marc Antony along with detailed specifications, or at least as much as the simulations could determine. She even demanded the right to manage his Iron Spirit designer account.

"Why would you need something like that?"

"It helps if certain clients get to test drive your mech in the game. Don’t misunderstand, they’re not stupid or addicted to the game. While it’s not an accurate representation, if they feel good about piloting a virtual mech that’s about 90% similar to the real thing, they won’t care about the 10% Iron Spirit unable to simulate."

"I guess you can also create some good promotional material for my mech."

"A visual example is very effective in generating initial interest in your product. We humans are primarily visual creatures after all. Watching a reasonable facsimile in action is a lot more visceral than extrapolating the performance of your mech from a dry spec sheet."

After they exchanged a few more words, they finally called it a night. Marcella Bollinger left the exhibition center with a new cash cow under her belt, while Ves still felt mixed about the contract he signed. He hardly bargained any additional benefits out of the bulldozer in action. He pretty much got run over during the entire conversation. He even felt it wasn’t a bad thing getting taken advantage of. He reasoned that if Marcella wanted milked him dry, she’d have to put in an effort to squeeze a lot of value out of his work.

"Why am I imagining myself as a milk cow?"